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To his further credit, Musk describes himself as a "[[free speech]] absolutist,"<ref>https://nationalpost.com/news/free-speech-absolutist-musk-says-he-would-reverse-twitter-ban-on-donald-trump</ref> and Musk ended [[Twitter]]'s ban on [[Donald Trump]].
To his further credit, Musk describes himself as a "[[free speech]] absolutist,"<ref>https://nationalpost.com/news/free-speech-absolutist-musk-says-he-would-reverse-twitter-ban-on-donald-trump</ref> and Musk ended [[Twitter]]'s ban on [[Donald Trump]].
==Background and Career==
Musk was born in Pretoria, South Africa, to businessman and politician Errol Musk and his wife Maye (née Haldeman). Raised in a Baptist church, he is the oldest of three children who share the same parents, as well as four paternal half-siblings following his father's divorce and remarriage when Musk was about age 9. Despite his uneasy childhood, during which he attended a wilderness school and one time survived being thrown down concrete steps by a bully classmate, he took interest in reading and programming computers from about age 10, and programmed his first computer game using the high-level BASIC programming language at age 12.
After high school, Musk applied for his passport to Canada to avoid going into South Africa's mandatory military service. Following five months at the University of Peoria, entered Canada and took up various odd jobs via his second cousin before entering Queen's University in Kingston, Ontario. From there, he transferred to the University of Pennsylvania and completed his studies in 1995, though he did not receive his two bachelor's degrees in arts and sciences from Wharton School until 1997. During his time at U-Penn, he held two internships at the Pinnacle Research Institute and Rocket Science Games.
In 1995, Musk cofounded Zip2, his first business venture, along with his brother Kimbal and friend Greg Kouri. It sold licensed online travel guide software to 160 newspaper firms at its peak before going defunct in 2003.
In 1999, Musk co-founded X.com, an online financial services and e-mail payment company and one of the world's first federally insured online banks. In 2001, X.com merged with Conformity, its main competitor, and is today known as PayPal. The next year, he sold the business to eBay for $1.5 billion in stock, of which he personally received $175.8 million. 15 years later, Musk bought back the domain name X.com on account of sentimental value.
In 2002, Musk founded SpaceX to research ways to decrease space launch expenses via reusable rockets, hoping to lay the groundwork for mankind's colonization of [[Mars]] using self-sustaining technology.
In 2008, the same year in which Musk became CEO of Tesla, Inc. (formerly Tesla Motors) SpaceX launched the Falcon 1 rocket into orbit, saving Musk from bankruptcy due to earlier failed attempts. Further success was found with Falcon 9-launched Dragon spacecraft flights to the [[International Space Station]], to the point where they replaced the [[Space Shuttle]] after its 2011 retirement. In 2018, SpaceX experimented with carrying heavy cargo into space by launching the Falcon Heavy rocket into orbit with Musk's personal Tesla Roadster, the world's first mass-produced electric sport car, on board. Two years later, Space-X became the first private company to send astronauts to space using the Demo-2. In 2024, NASA granted SpaceX $843 million needed to personally deorbit the ISS at the end of its lifespan.
In 2016, Musk founded Neuralink to research linking the human brain with [[artificial intelligence]] (AI) with the ultimate goal of helping people treat neurological conditions.
==Purchase of Twitter==
==Purchase of Twitter==
Musk responded to the network's statement about so-called "security concerns" Sunday afternoon with a giggling [[emoji]] . His wordless response received nearly 100,000 likes in an hour. Apparently, CBS News dislikes Elon Musk's policy of allowing more [[free speech]] and not censoring [[conservative]]s.]]
Musk responded to the network's statement about so-called "security concerns" Sunday afternoon with a giggling [[emoji]] . His wordless response received nearly 100,000 likes in an hour. Apparently, CBS News dislikes Elon Musk's policy of allowing more [[free speech]] and not censoring [[conservative]]s.]]
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==Political leanings==
==Political leanings==